


A Soul's Worth

by darkazureskies



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, and maybe some more characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-02-01
Packaged: 2018-05-12 13:09:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5667229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkazureskies/pseuds/darkazureskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A flap of a butterfly could bring forth a hurricane. A swung stick could lead to a whole race's demise. And, sometimes, bruises, cuts, and worn fingers could be the means to save them.</p>
<p>Something lost, something found, and something forgotten. </p>
<p>It all starts as the flowers bloom and the birds sing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Regrets and Smiles

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! It's been a long time since I've written anything with such determination. So, please enjoy.

This was the part Sans dreaded. Or what he assumed every iteration of himself felt that was confronted with this dilemma.

The human staggered, shards of bones penetrating every side. Their blood gushed into a puddle beneath their feet, soaking their dusty sweater red. The anger and malice melted from the human's eyes as they fell half lidded. The raging red subsided for a muddled brown.

The stagnate silence was broken by the human's wheezing cough.

"If we were really friends," Sans hissed, his hand starting to glow. " **You won't come back.** "

Before the last syllable finished its echo through the hall, Sans had flung the human into a pillar yards away. It crumbled slightly as the human's body tumbled from it. When they didn't get up, only then did Sans let out a shaky breath and wipe the sweat from his brow.

Slowly, he walked towards the body, the glow from his eye reflecting purple off the streaks of blood. The human lay crumpled on their side. The toss and impact had dislodged the largest pieces of bone. Those, along with chunks of pillar, lay scattered on and around the human. Blood was slowly starting to pool below them.

A wet choke made Sans freeze, letting out an audible creak in his already overworked and tired bones. Sans slowly raised his arm, calling one of the blasters to him. "Don't you know how to stay dead, kid?" he whispered, voice shaking.

"S-Sans..." a small, meek, and feeble voice leaked from the human's lips. A shiver ran up Sans' spine at the sound. "Thank you... for savin-stopping... me..."

Sans shakily lowered his arm; the blaster faded back into nothing. This voice was not the brash voice that had seeped from those lips earlier. Long lost was the cocky tone and snide remarks. All that was left was something tired. Something that had been fighting a long battle; a battle that had started long before Sans had ever laid an eye-socket on the human. This was the voice of a child that had seen hell. In his mind Sans knew, this was the voice that echoed through his dreams. It echoed though images of smiling faces painted gold by the setting sun. The voice, their name...

"Fr-Frisk...?" Sans stuttered. "Are you really...?"

The child let out a shaky breath as a pained smile crossed their lips. "So it's... you do... dream... lines..." Haggard breaths drowned out words. "Never thought... my name... again..."

Before Sans even realized what he was doing, he had rushed to Frisk's side and was gently picking them up into his arms. Frisk weakly grabbed hold of Sans' sweatshirt, as if it had been months since they felt the touch of another. Their other hand lay plastered over their stomach, trying and failing to keep pressure over the large wound there. The blood slowly dyed Sans' sweatshirt red.

"Kid... how..." Sans couldn't put into words all he wanted to ask. What had happened? How could the human in his dreams be the same one here? How could that smiling face kill...?

"I never... was able to... him... reset... so many... frustrated..." Tears began to stream down their face, streaking the blood on their cheeks. "Surprised... Froggit... stick... accidentally... d-d-dust... t-they...... control......m-m-m-me..." Sobs now shook the small child's frame. "I'm so, s-so sor-sorry, Sans... I di-didn't want Pap-" Large, wet coughs cut Frisk's confession short as they wracked their small frame, blood oozing from their mouth. They curled up in pain, gripping both their stomach and the sweatshirt tighter.

"Kid! Kiddo... Frisk..." Sans tightened his grip on them. His head was spinning. Even if he had heard every word that was muttered, Sans would still be as confused. "Its... It'll be alright, kid. You're gonna be fine.."

Frisk looked Sans in the face, half lidded eyes drooping even more and any sign of 'alright' in them was fading fast. They made the face of someone who knew what 'fine' felt like and this was not 'fine', but managed smiled anyway. It was the thought that counted.

Their grip on his sweatshirt was weakening, but they still put in the strength to give it a slight tug. "Sans..." Frisk pleaded, heir voice wheezing. "Reset... find the... good me... be... happy..."

"Frisk." Sans whispered. The grip on his sweatshirt failed and he could feel the soft thud of their head rolling into the crook of his arm. The small splash of their hand slipping into the pooling blood below rippled through the quiet hall. Sans' body started to shake as tears rolled down his face. "I'm not like you, kid..." A warm, red glow began to fill the room. "I don't have that ability."

Slowly, Frisk's soul left their body and came to a halt right in front of Sans. It floated there gently, basking Sans in its warm light. Tears kept flowing as Sans tightly held the body, slowly growing cold in his arms. He felt regret wash over. This was the human that his dreams told him would save the Underground. No longer could they reset. Did that mean that he had doomed countless timelines to suffering? Were there more Frisks out there? Or was the child he held and whose soul danced before him the only Frisk, constantly reliving each timeline? Such questions plagued him.

The soul began to shudder and shake where it floated, as if aggravated that it had not been taken, that it had not been absorbed. It anticipated this but when Sans did not deliver, the soul, in its impatiences, hurled itself at the skeleton.

Sans jumped, letting out a startled yell as the soul collided with his body. By the time Sans had noticed the erratic movements of the soul, it was already barreling towards him. As the soul was absorbed into his body, a rush of heat covered him, erasing all senses. The smell of copper; the cold, hard tiles under his legs. The deafening silence of the hallway. The weight of Frisk in his arms. All gone. His sense of being completely rooted to a body was erased. Later he would explain it as if his entire body had been converted into a white light. A mass of energy holding a simple shape.

In the back of his mind, a familiar voice laughed, " _Of course I know you can't Reset, you bonehead! That's what I'm here for!_ "

Sans tried to call out to them, but before he could utter the name that danced behind his teeth, the heat intensified. As quickly as the heat had come, it was gone, replaced with a bitter chill of snow.

Sans staggered and tripped forward into the snow, his balance against the wall behind him completely uprooted.

"What-When-How-" Sans uttered in confusion. He spun around, surveying the area. A door. The door to the ruins of Home. "Did they-we-I... reset? Is this when they...?" He scanned the ground in front of the door. The snow was pristine and barely untouched, minus his own footprints meandering near the door. Sans sat down, letting out a small sigh as he rested his head into his hands. His mind was racing, yet his main concern was which human would walk out that door. The one he fought or the one he watched die. Would he have to have to go through another timeline of death and destruction or would this be the timeline from his dreams? He was almost too afraid to find out.

His thoughts were cut off by a long, ear piercing creak as the door of the ruins opened slowly. As quickly as he could, Sans jumped up and hid himself within the forest. A small form inched its way from behind the door. The human stopped a few paces away from the door, faced it, and watched the door as it slowly closed. A few seconds later, the human let out a shaky breath as their body relaxed. They turned around and started to head down the path, but Sans could swear that their eyes lingered on him for a few too many seconds. After the human was far enough away, Sans left his hiding place and followed the human to the bridge. It was what he had done before and he might as well do it again. 

When the human reached the bridge, they stopped and turned around, facing Sans, beaming and holding out their right hand. Sans hesitated. This is where he would pull the whoopee cushion hand shake, but did this human know that?

The human frowned a bit when Sans didn't approach them. "C'mon. Don't you know how to greet an old pal, Sans?" the human chimed. "Though no whoopee cushion prank today." They let out a small laugh.

Sans stood stunned for a second. This human knew who he was, and this human knew he knew who they were. He let out a laugh as he approached.

"Geez, kid, how'd you pull this off, huh?" Sans hummed. "You're full of surprises, Frisk, aren'tcha?"

Frisk smiled happily, bouncing where they stood. "I guess you can say I didn't want to receive any PUNishment from you."

Sans was now in front of Frisk. "Oh, you'll get a pun-ishment," Sans smirked, reaching out to grab Frisk's hand. "Double hand whoopee cushion!" At the last moment, Sans pulled out his other hand and grasped Frisk's with both, a chorus of loud raspberries filled the area. Frisk stood stunned for a second before erupting into laughter and uncontrollable giggles. Sans let out his own hearty chuckle.

Frisk was wiping tears from the corners of their eyes when Sans spoke again. “Kid, I'd love to rattle your bones about what we just did, but I think I see a Paps heading over.”

Frisk let out one last giggle. “Don't want him to yell at you for boondoggling, right?” Frisk said with a smirk, which quickly fell into a confused scrunch. “What does boondoggle mean anyway, Sans? I never actually managed to look that up...”

Sans motioned Frisk forward through the gate. “Well, kiddo, its like when I sleep on the job.”

“Doing something when you should be doing something else?” The two had reached the sentry station by this point and Frisk was backing up towards the conveniently shaped lamp. “Like how you sell 'hot dogs' when you're at your station in Hotland.”

“Exact-” Sans stopped as he finally processed what Frisk had said. Frisk stuck their tongue out with a smirk before they completely hid themselves behind the lamp. Sans shook his head with a laugh as Papyrus finally stormed into the area.


	2. A Rainy Lunch Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soggy burgers don't make for the best conversation partners.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just want to explain how chapters will work. I'll be jumping around, a LOT. Each chapter will revolve around basically one tangent. So kinda like one shots that you need to have read the previous one to know what's going on. 
> 
> I hope that makes sense.

Sans watched in amusement as Frisk happily skipped into Waterfall. The child went and stood off to the side, humming a soft tune as they gazed over the water below and fiddled with the new article of clothing adorning their head. A few minutes had passed before Frisk turned on their heel and made a beeline for Sans. A smile beamed from their face and each hand held a peace sign. 

“I take it your date with Paps wasn't soul crushing?” Sans asked in amusement. Frisk gave a thumbs down to his attempt at a pun. Sans simply shrugged. “I can't always be full of witty puns. Nice cranium cap you got there.”

Frisk rolled their eyes before they grabbed at the beanie they wore. “Papyrus bought it for me! He said it reminded him of me. A declaration of our friendship is what he called it. I was so surprised!” They flipped the beanie around in their hands, examining it with a twinkle in their eyes. It was a deep purple striped in lavender with a little red heart button on the side. Frisk smiled as they put it back on. “This is a first!”

“Wow, he sure won you over huh, kid?” Sans chuckled, before tilting his head in slight confusion. “First?”

“Yeah,” Frisk nodded. “This was the first time Papyrus bought me a gift for our 'date'. I'm really, really happy about it.” Sans let out another chuckle at Frisk's beaming smile.

“Let's continue our chat over some grub. Its about time I had my first lunch.” Sans walked out from behind his station and held out his hand. “I know a shortcut to someplace cool.”

“Grillby's?” Frisk asked as they took his hand. 

“Nah. I'll give you another 'first'. Though I did get Grillbz to give me some takeout.”

After a quick pull and a slight tug, the two had taken the shortcut. Frisk never could understand Sans' shortcuts, no matter how many times they happened. Frisk made note to ask the skeleton later. The sound of rushing water and a cool breeze pulled Frisk from their thoughts. Where Sans had taken them was to a large, flat rock right by the edge of a large waterfall overlooking a vast marsh of echo flowers and water sausages below. 

“Found this place when I was a baby bones. Back then I had a bit too much energy and loved to explore. Now I use this place to think, or have a quick nap where Paps can't find me.” Sans explained, watching with bemusement as Frisk examined the area.

Frisk stood in awe, absorbing in the sight until they heard rustling behind them. Sans had sat down and pulled out a paper bag, bottom soaked in grease. Sans pat the space next to him as he pulled out a couple burgers and fries.

“Didn't know what you'd like so I got both.” Sans explained as Frisk sat down next to him. They went for both. Sans let out a laugh. “Paps said he was gonna feed ya but his spaghetti is an acquired taste, ain't it?” Sans held out a half filled bottle towards the child. “Ketchup?” Frisk shook their head, already two bites into their burger. Sans shrugged. “More for me, then.” 

The pair sat in silence for awhile as they ate. Frisk's eyes darted around, trying to absorb every sight and discover the cause of every sound. Sans munched on a fry as he watched Frisk in amusement. He was sure this would be one of the few, if not only, times he would see the human so engulfed with the world around them. He hated to have to bring the kid back to reality. 

Sans let out a long breath before he asked his first question. “So, Frisk,” he hesitated. “How many times... have you reset?” 

Frisk lowered their burger back onto its wrapper, slowly finishing the bite in their mouth. “Well,” their voice was quiet with the slight undertone of a tremble. “I guess you could say I've lived ten lifetimes worth... and that's including the one where I lived to old age...” Frisk fiddled with the ends of their sleeves. “I counted how long I had spent in each time, rather than the resets. Some I would turn back hours after the barrier broke, sometimes weeks, months, years. It really depended on how long my frustration would hold out.”

“Frustration?” Sans tilted his head in confusion. Frustration was one of the more obscure reasons he could have thought of wanting to reset. 

“Yeah...” Frisk pursed their lips as their eyebrows knotted together, trying to figure out their next words. “There's someone who is never able to leave the underground, but I want him to because he deserves to be free just as much as everyone else.” Frisk let out a small laugh. A laugh that spoke plenty of words. Desperation. Frustration. Anger. Sadness. Grief. Sorrow. “I mean, he is the one to break the barrier every time.”

Sans had turned his whole body towards Frisk, resting his chin in his hand as he listened and watched. If he had any eyebrows he would have raised one. “Whose that, kiddo?” If they caused Frisk to reset so many times, to put Frisk through so much, they must be important to the kid. Was it someone he knew?

“His name is Asriel.” There was a pain behind that name as Frisk spoke, Sans could clearly see that. “No one ever gets to meet him, but I wish they could. That's why I want to free him. But he's missing something, something really important that I don't know how to give him...” Frisk's eyes had fallen to their lap, where their fingers fiddled with the wrapping of the burger. 

“What's he missing then, Frisk?”

Frisk fidgeted and looked away, almost unwilling to respond. Several moments passed before they looked Sans in the eyes. The weight of those seconds weighed on their eyes. “His soul.” Frisk watched as Sans' eyes widened in surprise and before Sans could even question what they had said, Frisk began to talk again. “Though, I won't be resetting anymore. So I'll just have to think of something new! Plus I don't know what would happen to you and since I brought you to this time line and everything and I also don't want that to happen again. I mean-” Sans put his hand over Frisk's mouth, effectively cutting off their desperate ramble. 

“Alright, alright. You're gonna unhinge your jaw with how fast your mouth is flying.” Sans placed his hand on Frisk's head and ruffled their hair, dislodging the beanie from its spot on their head. “No more talking 'bout him for now, I got it. So then, can you tell me how last timeline happened?”

Frisk grumbled as they pulled the beanie off and fixed their hair, seeing as Sans made the beanie fall so forward it covered their eyes. “Well, last time was actually the twelfth time that had happened. But... um...” Frisk began to chew on their thumb nail, thinking. “I don't know where to begin. I could tell you how it started but then I feel like you need to know about them but then there's things I don't understand, and if I don't understand, then how can I explain them to you? I mean-” Another bony hand to mouth. 

“Your mouth is starting to imitate this waterfall, Frisk,” Sans let out a small chuckle. “You mentioned possession back then when you were... uh...” Sans attempted to illustrate their battle with large, swirling hand movements before quickly realizing that Frisk knew exactly what he was talking about. Frisk giggled. Sans let out a cough. “So then, start there. Tell me about what possessed you.”

“Not what, but who,” Frisk started to explain, balling up a fry and tossing it into the water. They jumped a little in surprise when a fish jumped out of the water to catch it. “So I'm sure you know the story of why Asgore started collecting seven human souls, right? How it all started when the prince found a human child that had fallen underground. Well that chil-” Frisk stopped their talk and pointed at Sans. They could see the connections being made now from the name they uttered before. “No bringing him up, but yes that thought you had is true. Sorry... UH, well...” Frisk scratched the back of their neck. “My soul and that first human's are similar in radiance and frequency, or something along those lines we think. So when I fell, my presence, and I guess, my determination stirred awake their essence and they clung, or maybe more so got stuck, to me.”

“ 'We' think? The two of you can talk?”

“Yeah. Most of the times they're just a voice in my head, but when they get bored or want to be a pain, they ghost around me, if that makes any sense.” Sans merely gave a shrug and a nod, so Frisk continued. “So they've been with me for the long run, you can say.”

“So, they've been with you in spirit, eh?”

“...I...” Frisk merely held their face in their hand as Sans let out a chuckle.

“You handed that on to me on a silver platter, kid.” Sans lifted a rock from the river, bringing it to his hands to fiddle with as he continued. “I'm confused on one thing, Frisk. You seem pretty amicable with your ghost, so that means they aren't the thing that possessed ya?”

Frisk gave a small, hesitant nod. “Yes... and no. You remember my choppy explanation, right? I had been so caught up in my thoughts and us talking that I didn't notice a Froggit hop out behind me until it croaked. I got so startled that I swung my stick at the poor thing. One hit was enough to..” Frisk snatched the rock Sans had been slowly juggling and began to fumble around with it. “I gained EXP. I was drowned in laughter soon after. Chara, that's-that's their name, something in Chara snapped, broke maybe? We don't know. But soon they took control over me and reset, making sure I missed no monster this time. You... you know the rest...”

Frisk was trembling. Their burger, long gone cold, slid from their lap and the rock in their hands rattled against their palms. Sans quickly brought Frisk into his arms. They immediately clung to him, their breathing became shaky. Small, gently circles were applied to the square of their back. “It tried to... to break me, Sans...” Those words were whispered, and nearly drowned into the fabric of his sweatshirt. 

“But you didn't, kid. You didn't.”

“ _Thank you_.” 

The phrase danced softly on the wind and Sans understood that Frisk wasn't the only one that was hurting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter! Leave a comment if there's anything you'd like to say!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Please, leave a comment or critique if you have any!


End file.
